Decay
by Surface Creep
Summary: In times of crisis, one's sanity can be tested to their limits. So what happens when one who has already been broken is sent into a world much safer than his own? How will he adjust from fighting off hoards of infected to living the life of a Hunter? (Same story, moved onto another account)
1. Ein

**_EIN_**

 _If today I die…_

* * *

Huh.

It's snowing ash.

Again.

True enough, the skies have been blacked out again by the heavy amounts of ash in the atmosphere, dense enough to where the skies look like it was currently dusk while simultaneously raining down gray snow. The ground is covered in a light blanket of it, giving the scenery a very dead look.

Not that it's entirely inaccurate.

Even the road is covered, along with the abandoned cars scattered on the street, most having been empty of everything for a long time now. I do say most, however, because the one I currently was searching managed to give me a somewhat safe looking can of beans.

" _You'll have to do._ " I say aloud to myself as I put the can in my bag and stand back up to my full height on the road, my breather distorting my voice. Checking around the landscape for anything out of place, I go back to walking. That's only been the third car to have something for the past two hours, after all. I guess searching today isn't going to be very profitable.

I wipe some ash off of my hoodie as I begin to walk down the deserted highway. The grass, hills, everything is gray. There's hardly any other color any more, since it's more often 'snowing' then not. Luckily, though, it hardly ever picks up more than just some light snowing, I personally have never seen a 'Blizzard'. Been like that for the past… what, year and a half now? I've honestly lost track. Plus, the ash in the air makes everything colder. Hence the hoodie and pants during March.

Regardless, I continue to walk forward like I had been for the past eight hours, just letting the time fly by. Let the 'snow' fall. Hopefully today will be an uneventful one.

…

Uneventful indeed.

Looks like more walking it is.

Until I see something on the horizon.

Up ahead, I spot what looks like some sort of building in the distance. Small, probably about the size of a shack, nothing else around it. The ground around it is flat and spans out for awhile. good for keeping an eye out for unwanted guests. It should do for a quick rest.

After walking towards it for a few more minutes, I get close enough to see that I was right with my guess and see it is indeed a shack. Run down, wooden, probably older than me shack, about ten feet long and four feet wide. After taking one more look around the surrounding area, taking in the rolling plains with dying foliage peppered here and there, such as trees without their leaves and a cornfield with dying stalks. Nothing of concern, no other life. Just like the past month, no other living being in sight. And with that observation done, I step inside.

A tool shed.

A fine layer of dust covers everything, the wood a dark brown with a dirt floor. There's a window at the back, but it's so covered in ash and grime it hardly even lets in light. Despite the poor condition, I set down my bag before sitting down next to it with my back propped against the wall. pulling off my breather and setting it down, I reach into my bag and pull out my water flask before unscrewing the top and putting the rim to my mouth…

And only have one swallow of water before it was empty.

"Come on…" I plead to whatever deity that was responsible for my pain as I shook the canteen, confirming it's lack of liquid. the last source of water was at least twenty miles back, and that was a small lake filled with ash. Looks like no water for me today.

Setting the empty canteen back in my brown bag, I search through it before finding what I was looking for. I pull out what I consider to be the last thing of any meaning I have left in the world.

A picture.

Crumbled, dog eared edges, and faded with a few small rips showing it's wear with a fold line in the middle. Despite it's poor condition, my eyes lock on the occupants of the picture and forget about everything else around me as I get lost in the faces.

A family of five, with the sun shining and the green grass flowing from the wind in the background. Standing the tallest of the group was a young man about the age of eighteen, with crew cut brown hair and angular features on his face. An arm is thrown around his shoulder, belonging to a man just an inch shorter than him with shoulder length wild brown hair the same color as his beard. He had a bright smile on his face as in his other arm by his side was a woman with straight black hair that ran down to the small of her back, with bright ocean blue eyes that held nothing but love for the two children that she was looking at in front of her. One was a little girl about the age of seven with hair like her mother's, a big innocent grin on her face as she hugged her mother's legs. Then there was the final person.

Me.

 _"_ _Come on, mom! Let's hurry up, we still need to go get some ice cream!" The young boy cried happily to his mother as they rushed to the hilltop. The mother smiled warmly at her son as she wrapped her hand with her husband's._

 _"_ _Don't worry, squirt." The eldest of the children responded for his mother as he ruffled his brother's hair playfully. "We'll get your ice cream."_

I looked so happy back then. With my shaggy brown hair that I had back at the ripe age of twelve, I run a hand over my head to feel my now short hair that I had shaved myself. Back when I was still a child, still had that world view that everything would be ok. That the good guys would always beat out the bad guys. This younger version of me smiled brightly as he leaned forward and flashed a peace sign with his eyes closed, ignorant to the trials and tribulations ahead of him, as if blocking out the sight of the older him watching. Keeping himself safe from the horrors of the future.

Keeping himself safe from me.

From what he's become.

From what I've become.

…

…

…

How long had it been?

 _"_ _Ooh! I want rocky road!" cried the youngest one, the girl as she held her father's hand. The father turned his head and smiled at his daughter._

 _"_ _We'll get whatever flavour you want, honey." The father told her. She gave a happy giggle, music to the family's ears._

Three Years? Three years since everything went to hell? It feels like so much longer…..It can't be… Can it?

…

…

…

Three years…

The last thing I see before falling asleep was my family, as if they wished me good night.

But I knew better.

 _He believed they would always remain together._

I would never see them again.

…

…

…

This was my life now.

 _Life truly was perfect._

It truly had Decayed.

 **Just like AOTC, I'm just moving this to another account, AKA this one.**


	2. Zwei

**_ZWEI_**

 _I cannot deny…_

 **Decay**

 _The young boy, now a fourteen year old teen, takes his first steps into high school. He adjust the strap to his back-pack nervously as he looks around for any sort of familiar face he knows. Much to his displeasure, he doesn't._

 _"_ _Hey, over here stupid!"_

I jolt up from my makeshift pillow and draw my gun out before scanning the room around me, searching for threats.

 _The teen smiles as he recognizes the voice. He looks over to the source and sees two of his best friends from Junior high._

I don't see anything different from the night before, so I slowly get to my feet and start packing up my belongings.

 _Standing by a water fountain was a boy about his age with short black hair and brown eyes. Beside him was a shy looking girl with hair like her friend's, except long, straight, and reaching down to her back with green eyes, much like his own. He waves at them, and they both return it, the boy bashfully with a grin and the girl with a timid one. He was glad to see some familiar faces on his first day._

Making sure I had forgotten nothing, I slip the pack over my shoulder and holster the magnum. Lastly, I strap on my breather before making my way over to the door and opening it. Back to the world of gray.

 _"_ _Took you long enough." The boy clapped his friend on the back as he made his way over to the duo. "Luna here wouldn't stop worrying about you."_

 _The girl, now identified as Luna, blushes as she look down from the young teen's eyes as he turns to her and raises an eyebrow. "I-I was just w-worried if you were g-gonna make it o-on time." She stuttered out. "Zack i-is just being stupid."_

 _"_ _Hey, I may be stupid, but at least I ain't dumb." The boy, now identified as Zack defended himself with a hurt voice. His smile gave away his true emotions, however._

It was still snowing.

 _"_ _Whatever." The boy shook his head at the twins. "Come on, let's get to our first class."_

It may not be too much, but damn, it's still annoying to wear this mask all the time. It can't be helped, I guess. Instead, I just start walking back to the road, wanting to continue on my trek.

 _As the three make their way down the hall, with Zack to the young boy's right with his hands behind his head and Luna to his left as she pressed her forefingers together while stealing glances at him, they passed by countless other teens on their way to their classes, chatting with others and laughing in joy, no worries on their minds._

I walk down the empty highway, the sound of silence my only companion in this desolate wasteland. Just like it's always been on the road. My only remaining friend in a world gone to hell.

Until a loud moan breaks it.

 _"_ _So we've got history first, right?" The young boy asks his friends. The two twins nod their heads in agreement._

My head whips around to the source of the noise to see something rise from the ashes and slowly turn to me.

 _The trio find the class they were searching for and make their way inside to find most of the seats already taken. They look around until they find three seats right next to each other and make their way towards them before setting their bags down next to their chosen seats, with the young boy-turned-teen in between his friends._

 _"_ _Man, where is everybody today?" Zack questioned as he looked around at the mostly empty classroom. "there's like, five people here counting us."_

 _"_ _Maybe it has to do with that thing that's been going around?" Luna proposed as she pulled out a small book from her bag. "Dad did say that a lot of people at work weren't showing up recently."_

 _"_ _Sounds about right." The young teen agreed with Luna as he flashed her a bright smile. The Ravenette looked back down as she quickly tried to cover her blush. Zack laughed at his twin's shyness before clapping the young man on the back again._

It opens it's eyes to show a dull yellow glow coming from it.

Oh, shit.

I reach over my back and bring out my fire ax as I run towards the creature, hopping to kill it in time before it can-

" **RIIIIIIIIIIIIIGGGGGGGHHHHH!"**

 _"_ _What the hell was that?!" The young man asked aloud. Everyone, including the teacher, looks frightened by the sudden scream before looking out the classroom windows and seeing two people outside. A woman, screaming bloody murder as a man bites into her neck, sending blood spraying everywhere in the air._

 _The young teen stared on in horror as everyone around him began to panic._

I didn't reach it in time.

As my bat smack into it's face and shatters the creature's skull, a chorus of hellish voices ring out all around me as more and more of the things similar to the dead one in front of me rise from the ashes like demented, grotesque beasts with their yellow eyes training onto me. All around me, the dead rise.

I run.

 _"_ _Let's get the hell outta here!" The teen yelled as he grabbed Luna's hand and ran out of the classroom, Zack following close behind them. They exit the classroom to see a few of the things like the one outside in the halls, feasting upon any poor students who were too close and too slow._

 _"_ _Where are these things coming from?!" Zack asked as they began running up the stairs. The young teen wondered the same thing himself, confused by the rapid chain of events. he was broken out of his confusion when Luna slipped from a hand that had grabbed onto her ankle._

 _A gray hand._

My feet kick up ash from the pavement as I push my legs as hard as I can, the undead right on my heels. One tries to run up to me from in front and tackle me, but I end it's existence with a shot from my magnum. No need for subtlety now, all of the infected in a three mile radius will have heard that screech.

Ahead, I finally spot the edges of a small town and pick up the pace, my stamina slowly starting to whittle away as my breaths become shorter and more ragged.

 _A elderly woman with a large gash in her face tries to drag Luna down the staircase towards her, but is stopped by the young man when he kicks her in the face hard enough to fracture the undead woman's nose and let go of Luna's leg. He then grabs her and roughly hefts her up to himself as they continue to run._

I finally get off the road onto what looks like a parking lot to some long dead shopping complex on the edge of the town. Jumping up onto the hood of a car, I then get on the roof before jumping straight onto a delivery truck. Climbing onto it's top, I get a running start before jumping onto the roof of the complex…

Only to be met with infected roaming it's top.

 _"_ _What do we do!?" The young man asked. They had managed to make their way out of the halls into the school parking lot. Zack was unresponsive for a second before turning to the duo. He couldn't help but notice Luna's hand intertwined with his best friend's._

 _"_ _Anyone know how to drive stick?"_

"God damn it all." I mutter under my breath. The ones up here seem to have been more weathered and infected longer than most, making them much more slow than most. Regardless, they jerk towards me at a brisk pace as I unsheath my Bowie knife and hold it in my left hand while I aimed my magnum with my right. Deciding to be polite and meet them halfway, I charge.

 _"_ _I don't know how to drive period, you dickbiscuit!" The young man answered Zack. Despite this, they still ran over to the parked truck with the door wide open, a blood trail leading away to the school giving the trio a vague picture of what happened to the driver._

 _"_ _I-I can t-try to drive. M-mom let me do it every once in awhile." Luna offered as her eyes were locked onto the young man's face, afraid of looking anywhere else and possibly seeing more dead bodies. The young man knew she couldn't handle this sort of thing. Nodding tentatively, he led her by the hand towards the truck and helped her get into the driver's seat._

One reaches out with it's only arm before I swipe upwards and cut it clean off from the elbow down, then continue the swing towards it's cranium and stab it through the brain. Twisting around it and dislodging the blade, i then used the knuckle dusters attached to the handle to punch another infected in the face hard enough to cave it in. One tries to blindside me, but is ultimately stopped as a bullet from my 44. tears through it's eye socket and ends all movement from the infected as it's body drops to the ground like a sack of bricks. Another lunges forward and attempts to tackle me to the ground, but misses as I move out of the way and stick my knife out, the infected momentum allowing me to save any real effort as the blade tears through most of it's neck and decapitated it. Standing up, I count eight more shambling towards me with other infected coming through in a stream from a doorway that I could only guess led to the interior of the store itself.

 _The three sat in silence as Luna drove the truck down the four lane, keeping her glassy eyes trained straight ahead as to not notice the chaos around her with people running and screaming as they were torn limb from limb by these...things._

 _"_ _Jesus…" Zack said, voice barely louder than a whisper as a man began to unload a full clip of what looked like a machine gun into the chest of one of those things and send it sprawling onto the ground, only for it to get right back and take a bite out of the man's arm._

 _"_ _What in sam hell happened here…" The young man asked no one in particular as he too looked on at the death and destruction going on, a few centimeters of glass and steel being the only thing keeping them safe at the moment as they cruised down the road. he then looked over to his female friend and saw tears begin to slip from her eyes as her hands began to tremble. Reaching a hand out and placing it over her own, he tried his best to offer a reassuring smile as Luna's eyes went from the road to her not-so-secret crush._

 _"_ _Hey, your doing great." He reassured her as they made a left turn, leaving the city and entering a country road that led to his house. "Just a few more minutes and we'll be at my place."_

 _Luna gave a shaky nod as she turned back to the road, The young man's hand staying upon hers, which did not go unnoticed by Zack._

That's too many to deal with right now.

I turn away from the stream of infected and begin to make my way back down to the parking lot and just take my chances with the few that had chased me here…

Only to see a large group of easily a hundred zombies had gathered below, all having been attracted to me.

"Ahhhh, shit." I step back from the edge as all around me, the infected draw closer.

I was surrounded.

No way out.

Was this going to be the end of me? After all this time, this is how I go out? I have no other options no-

 _There is one more option._

...

…

I scan over everything one more time, just to make sure that there is indeed no other way out. Seeing all of them drawing closer and closer with barely thirty feet between me and the closest infected, I see no escape.

…

I suppose I really do have no other choice.

With that, darkness creeps into the corner of my vision as a searing spike of pain enters my brain, splitting through it like a hot knife through butter, cleansing it with liquid fire as I fall on my knees and grasp the sides of my head from the excruciating pain.

The last thing I see is a infected a few feet away from me, it's decayed hand reaching out for me, as if pleading for mercy against the torrent of pain about to be unleashed from me.

It shall receive none from me.


	3. Drei

_The life that I live_

 **Decay**

I don't know how long I was out.

All I know is that when I regained consciousness, I was miles away from where I lost control with blood all over me, a literal trail of dead bodies in my wake, and a severed zombie head in my hand.

I whipped it at a brick wall when I realized it was still trying to bite me.

I considered turning around and going back to look at 'my' handiwork, but night was coming soon, and I was going to need to find a place to stay safe until dawn.

 _grrrrrowl_

And some food, too. That would probably be nice.

Well let's see... There's a couple of cars nearby, they look pretty decent. I don't see anything dead in them. I should probably be more concerned if there was anything undead in them, but eh. Three years of living like this kinda makes you not give a shit.

I walk up to a weather-beaten grey four door car. It's windows are kinda murky, but I can't see anything living or dead inside. Looks safe, I suppose.

I open up the passenger car door and am immediately met with a strong foul smell, which must be absolutely rancid if I can smell it through my respirator, so I backpedal away as I pull out my magnum and take aim at the seat. Really bad smells can normally be associated with infected. There's nothing in the passenger seat, so I guess that whatever it is is in the back seat.

I make my away around the side of the car with my magnum still trained on the automobile until I end up in front of the driver's side back door. I inch my hand forward to the handle slowly as I try to make out any sort of shape through the window. It looks like there's some sort of black cloth over the window.

Looks like i'm gonna have to chance it.

I throw the door open and step back as I put both hands on the grip of my magnum, fully expecting a infected to lunge out of the car towards me. Instead, nothing happens. There's no movement, no moaning, no-

 _gyaaaa…._

…

No…

..

Dear God, please…

Don't let this be what I think this is.

 _Gyaaaaaa…._

I know what this is. I know, I know, I know, I know, why? Why am I still going forward? I can't stop. I can't stop myself from kneeling down and peering into the car. My wish is granted, but by then it's too late. I stop when I see it.

 _Gyaaaa…_

…

…

A booster seat….

…

…

He doesn't look any older than five…

LINE BREAK

I sit propped up against the car, now fully closed as I nurse my head in one of my hands as I look at my magnum in the other.

Even after all it's done, I don't hate it. This thing has saved my ass more times than I can count.

But even with all the good it's done for me, It has only ever been used for evil. To extinguish any and all evil.

And one day, it will vanquish me.

I stare at the chamber, one bullet in the cylinder before I spin it and bring it back into place.

Will today be that day?

I bring it up under my chin as I stare off above me into the graying sky.

Will this be the last thing I ever see?

…

…

 _*click*._

…

 _*click*_

 _*click*_

 _*click*_

...

I guess I live to see another day.

I stand up from the side of the car and walk around it, trying my best to ignore the blood splatter on the window.


	4. Vier

**VEIR**

 _will befit, myself, in time._

 **Decay**

I didn't stop walking.

Even when night fell, I continued to walk.

Even when it began to 'snow', I continued to walk.

Even when my feet began to bleed, I continued to walk.

Even as the sun rose and fell multiple times, I continued to walk.

I don't know how long I decided to walk. Had it been days? Weeks? I had lost track. All that I could think about was one thing, one sentence that kept on going through my head.

Why do I even bother anymore?

I used to get angry at what happened. Angry at the infected, for taking everything from me. Everyone I loved, everyone I ever knew. Turning them against me. Into the very things I had to kill.

Then I used to get depressed. Depressed how no one was there to speak to anymore. No one to be there when i needed them.

Then I used to get quiet. Quiet, since there was no one to hear my words, no matter how hard I screamed. Even when i would yell until my throat became raw and it hurt to swallow, I still screamed until I realized there was no one left to hear me.

Now…

Now I feel nothing. So, with no idea what to do anymore, I did what I did best. What I always did, and what I would always continue to do.

I continued to walk.

Even when the infected started to chase me, I continued to walk.

Even when they bit into my arm, I continued to walk.

Even when I felt the burn of the sickness spread through my bloodstream and throughout my body, I continued to walk.

I just kept on going.

Until I couldn't walk anymore.

LINE BREAK

I fell down to my hands and knees, the tall grass seemingly engulfing me. I just wanted to lie down, to have it end. Panting, I wobbly stood and looked forward to see a lone tree. Gray, but still standing. I don't know why, but I wanted to just go lie down next to it. Against it. Lay against it and just rest.

I was going to die soon. I could feel it, hiding right under my skin, ready to take over the second I closed my eyes one last time.

It wouldn't have to wait for long.

I shamble over to the tree, nearly tripping on my face multiple times and taking twenty minutes to get to something that would normally take me ten seconds.

Not very long at all.

I finally reach the tree, and lay down with my back propped against it. My hands shakily rise up and pull off my breather, exposing my face to the elements. I expect to taste the ever present taste of ash in the air. But instead, i'm met with an unexpected smell. One I would never have thought I would smell again.

Roses.

As the large cloud of ash in the atmosphere miraculously parted just enough for a few rays of golden light to spread out and give some color to the landscape, i let out a large, shaky sigh as I let my head rest against the tree. Despite how heavy my eyelids feel, despite how tired I am, I just want to watch the landscape.

So I do.

With the scent of roses, and golden light, and the clean air, i relax. In the first time in the last three years, i relax.

It's all so peaceful. This truly was a great sight. I actually smile.

Even as the blood begins to flow from my lips.

Even as i begin to cough.

Even as I lose all feeling in my body.

Even as my eyelids slowly close, for what I know will be the last time ever.

Even as I pull out the picture from my pocket and look at it one last time before all the strength in my body leaves me.

Even as I die, even as all my years of effort, of love, of strife, of pain, of joy, of depression, of insanity, of loneliness, of guilt, of anger, of quiet, and of wandering come to and end.

I still smile.


	5. Funf

**FUNF**

* * *

No time to die, nor live,

* * *

All I could remember was I felt like I was falling.

For a time that I honestly couldn't even measure, It felt as If I was falling in a endless blackness. Darkness, that went on for centuries, for length was not enough to describe the vast emptiness of this endless plain. An unmeasurable, unnatural darkness that creeped into your vision, seeped into your skin, tore away at your soul. Sending chills down your spine so strong it feels as if a ice age was occurring inside yourself. So it went on for centuries. Even with no actual way to perceive time in this vast, eternal darkness, it still went on and on for centuries.

For centuries I fell through darkness.

But I wasn't alone. Oh, god, i most certainly was not alone.

In what felt like a circle formation, I felt eight other presences. They felt familiar, and yet at the same time foreign to me. Presences that had been present for a long time now, presences that had witnessed the trails, the efforts, the death, and the end of the world, just as I had. Eight presences that had plagued me, my mind as it entered a abyss similar to the one we fell through, for a long time now.

But slowly, they all started to drift towards me. Closer.

And closer.

And closer.

Until we were one. They merged into my body, their blood became my blood, their hate became my hate, their memories became my memories, their insanity fueling my own, their minds became part of my own. We merged into one being, one entity. And yet at the same time, while we managed to coexist, we were still separate creatures of madness. We still fought for control of the body. Nine beings fighting for one body.

And still we fell for centuries.

And that's when the darkness gave way to light.

* * *

The first thing I felt when I woke up was the breeze on my skin.

I attempt to open my eyes, but screw them back shut as bright light shines into my face and cover them with my hands for as I flip off the sun for good measure. I lay on the ground, which felt like grass to me, as silently as I could so I could listen to my surroundings as I waited for my eyes to be prepared for the absolute skull-fucking their about to receive from the inglourious bastard known as the sun. I hear what sounds like animals in the distance and the chatter of insects.

Wait a minute, animals?

Ignoring the pain from the extremely bright sun as I squint my eyes open and take in my surroundings, I'm taken aback by what I see.

Life.

Honest to God life.

Trees, with all of their leaves and color in their bark, their tops high above me in the air with Actual Fucking Sunlight seeping through some of the cracks in the natural blanket of the leaves over what I could only guess was a forest..

Grass, green and beautiful as it swayed along with the wind, creating small ripples along it's surface.

Blue, Clear skies that instead of the usual endless rolling expanse of gray, was peppered with white clouds that floated along happily without a care in the world.

I saw Life.

And it left me speechless.

...

Was this... The Afterlife? Where we go when everyone dies? I mean, it's so beautiful, the sheer flawlessness completely taking my breath away as for the first time in almost three years, I see life. I'm surprised that after all the things I had done, all of the people I killed, that I was still allowed to come here. but nevertheless, here I am. Peace at long last.

And I enjoy it.

Under my breather, something similar to the ghost of a smile forms on my lips as I look around me and take in the sight of the small clearing in this mind-numbingly serene landscape. There were no infected to fight off.

No bandits to kill.

No smog.

No 'snow'.

Just...

Peace.

For the first time in three years, for the first time since I left my family, for the first time since I was the last one remaining of all the people I once called friends...

I am content.

* * *

 **Glynda**

I was less than stellar at the moment.

This whole Dust-forsaken week had been hectic beyond compare, even for Beacon Academy's standards. And this was a place that trained temperamental-superpowered-teenagers with high tech weaponry to slay physical manifestations of evil.

So yeah, less than stellar.

As I rode the elevator up to Ozpin's office, my mind was occupied by the whole myriad of things that had transpired in the past week alone as the faculty of the Academy tried to prepare for the fresh wave of students that would be arriving in the next couple of days to attend. I could bring up that little incident where Professor Port's 'pet' Edgar had managed to get loose from it's cage and go on a wild rampage across the campus. It wouldn't have been so bad, if Port hadn't went and decided to start RIDING the damn thing like a mechanical bull in an attempt to stop it, resulting in the portly man flying off into the distance after an especially strong kick. So that meant not only was I the one who had to catch that stupid Boarbatusk, but that also meant that I had to clean up all by myself (Even if my semblance made it ten times easier)... Or when Professor Peach accidently set up in Professor Malaway's room, which resulted in a dust-fueled battle between the two. That I had to clean up. Or maybe even when Bartholomew somehow convinced Ozpin to spend 30% of the schools funding on making sure that they received high quality coffee ingredients. That I had to settle out, thank you very much.

Dear Oum, am I the only sane one here?

So, after all of those little spectacles AND MORE, I was finally able to get a few hours to myself that I was planning to use to just have some relaxation time to myself. After all, I had spent the better part of the whole past two weeks making preparations for the incoming students.

Plus, a woman deserves some time to herself every once in awhile.

But noooo, Glynda. You don't get to have relaxation time. Instead, you have to go into Emerald Forest and retrieve some sort of wanderer who appeared in a small clearing out of seemingly nowhere.

Like I said.

Less.

Than.

Stellar.

I step out of the elevator and into the clock-themed office to see Ozpin himself sitting behind his desk with a holoscreen displayed in front of him. Trying to mask my minor annoyance with a blank face at having been called in during my relaxation time, I walked up to the silver-haired man as he watched it with his hands folded in front of his mouth, elbows propped up on his desk as he scrutinized the image before him. Without a word, I walked to his side and watched the video with him. I saw a figure clad in black and brown strolling along Emerald Forest with his hands in his pockets.

"Do we have any idea who this is?" I ask Ozpin without breaking my gaze from the screen. From the corner of my eyes I saw him shake his head 'no'.

"I can't see his face due to the quality of the video cameras, coupled with the fact he seems to be covering his face with some sort of mask along with his hood." He told me as he reached for his mug full of coffee and took a sip.

"Any sort of suspicious behaviours?" I questioned Ozpin as the figure continued to walk through the forest. He had what looked like some sort of bag on his back, with a axe on it as well as a multitude of firearms and knives strapped to his thighs and arms. He most certainly was armed for combat, that was assured.

"None that I have perceived. Though he does seem to be aware of his surroundings." The headmaster remarked. "Be cautious Glynda. While I don't doubt your abilities… There seems to be something off about this man."

"So it would seem. I don't know many normal people who would walk through a Grimm infested forest armed to the teeth for no apparent reason." I said before turning my gaze to Ozpin and offering him the smallest of reassuring smiles. "Rest assured, I'll be fine."

He returned the smile with one of his own as he tapped a button on the holo-screen. A second later, a beep resounded from my scroll, notifying me that I had been given access to the video feed. I turned from the Headmaster and made my way to leave, heading for the bullheads to intercept this stranger. Once the doors closed, I pulled out my scroll and checked the feed to see the man still walking through the forest.

This had _sooo_ better be worth my time, or else someone was going to pay.

* * *

 **Oregon**

I continue to walk through this absolutely breathtaking forest, taking in the sights with my hands in my pants pockets as I act like I don't have a care in the world. I say act, so I can convince whoever has been watching me that I haven't noticed the camera-drone like robot that had been following me.

I have to give credit where credit is due, it was hard to notice at first. Any other person would have most likely missed it, but I am not exactly _normal_. You have to have good perception in order to survive the apocalypse, after all.

Now I just have to wait until it reaches a good place for me to take it down.

Shouldn't be too long now.

Like right now, for example.

Pulling out my Magnum and aiming it in the drone's direction as quickly as I can, I pull the trigger and nail the piece of scrap right in what I guessed was it's rotor, causing it to fall from the air and crash onto the forest floor as I walk up to the fallen drone.

* * *

 **Glynda**

That asshole, did he have any idea how much these things cost?

Everything was completely fine. I had gotten into the bullhead, We had started towards the forest, the person continued to walk. until out of nowhere, he shot the drone down and made it fall. the camera was still working, albeit with a crack in it's screen as the man walked towards it with his gun still in hand. He stopped right in front of the crone before bringing his boot up and saying one last thing before stomping down.

"Nice try."

And then static.

And now i'm going to have to replace that too. Just great.

* * *

 **Oregon:**

So that kind of complicates things a bit.

 _Arooooooooh!_

…

*Sigh* " _Ain't no rest for the wicked, I suppose."_ I say aloud to myself, my breather distorting my voice as I sheath my magnum and reach into my backpack before pulling out a MP5 with a silencer on it's barrel before checking the magazine and switching off the safety.

Looks like old habits really do die hard.


End file.
